-When I was a toddler I always sat for hours with my older brother watching him play Alex Kidd and then Sonic on the Sega Mastersystem and Megadrives!! I was so enthralled in those early years and I always wanted games!! Sadly I was born at the same time as my close cousin (more like sister) and our mothers competed with each other so I was always in dresses and getting dolls and prams and houses etc

-In my early school years and pre-teen years, gaming was a reward I got after doing my homework and coming in from playing with my friends at the right time!! My brother wasn't out and about when he was pre-teen and early teens so he always got to play it first then me after!! This sort of painted the picture of my childhood ie I loved games but my brother was always the one allowed to spend that much money on games or being bought the latest console for Christmas!! I got other games that held my interest for a while but always returned to playing those my brother had!! My childhood "boyfriend" and I used to send hours playing games in his room and I guess this is where I discovered my love for Co-Op when it was done right (Tails was such a let down) as it was always so much fun doing things in tough situations as a team!!

-When my little brother finally gained the ability to play games I began to play for hours with him on things like Twisted Metal World Tour, Army Men 2 and of course Dynasty Warriors etc etc We used to play all summer long until our thumbs had blisters!! I also used to play Pokemon Gold for hours on end on the Gameboy Color!! Odd I spent a lot of my teens reading as well but I guess I managed to balance it!!

-When I went to Uni I bought my own PS2 (the PS3 would soon be released but damn if I was on a budget) and I'd play a lot of things in my room!! I'd bring it downstairs and play odd games with the buddies too!!

-Being an adult with a full-time job I got my own PS3 but never had time to play it and when I got home it'd be in my little brothers room and I'd be so tired from work I wouldn't bother bringing it down!! Obviously life began to take over in that regard with relationship and work!!

-So it was expected that games has evaporated from my life but then I got sick and I was at home lots!! It got to the point I wanted escape even just virtual escape and I had tried Lord of the Rings Online years ago so I downloaded it again and stared playing it and found new friends there!! I would hop on Runescape now and again too but someone managed to get my account barred for macroing even though no idea what that is!! I maxed out my character on LotRO but waiting to play a new area as I love the Co-Op feel!! I now also play with a few friends from work including The Old Republic!!

-It was also around this time that my nephew became quite attached to me and I have never met a smarter child with so much energy and so much curiosity and he loves me because well apparently "you know everything" which I think means that I actually give him an answer!! But the "Aunty Sunny Aunty Sunny" does get tiring after ten hours (I have family members who want to rename me they are tired of hearing it) so I had to get something for him to do!! I got my brothers Lego Harry Potter and damn now I have another PS3, three in my house, because he loves it that much!! He was only three but damn did he click on fast!! He was watching me play The Old Republic as he heard my companion being choked by a Sith and was like "He's killing her!!" and that was him watching me and I was letting him do some moves!! So I decided to get him Lego Star Wars too and now he's learning how to play that!!

So yeah I may still play a lot of games for an adult due to my circumstances!! I find the escapism to help the stress!!

If becoming enlightened or an intellectual means I must become arrogant and coldly cynical about the world around me then I'd gladly remain a fool for the rest of my life!!

Gaming is my only real hobby so it still dominates a lot of my life, though there are still some evolutions that are occurring with regards to how its approached. FIrst, I've been playing less and less console games and been focused more on pc gaming. I grew up us a console gamer and the shift was very abrupt as it only really took affect a year or two ago. I tried slowly shifting to PC a few years ago but it didn't click. It started with League of Legends, then DotA 2, and then a bunch of PC games in and around the past two years. But as of now, I've barely touched my PS3.

I'm not sure if the lack of high quality PS3 games in the past year and a half or the increase in the power of my PC that is the cause. Maybe a combination of both. However, I'm now firmly entrenched in PC gaming. There just seems to be a lot more variety in the types of games I can play, which is always a good thing. Now I'm still going to get a PS4 on or near launch and I'm hoping that it can help me get me back to the console life (since its easier on both my arms and my joints) but I'm not exactly awed by the selection of games at this point. Its a lot more of the same in my opinion, but with a lot better graphics.

One thing I've noticed is that with a full time job and a relationship, I've been trying to devote every bit of free time to playing. The job just allows me to use my money for every game I want whenever I want instead of having to wait/save.

I've gone from mainly futzing around in singleplayer games to either MMOs with my guild (SWTOR, FFXIV) or competitive games with a "community" (L4D2, Mount and Blade). I would still play something like Mass Effect or Batman: Arkham Futzaroo but I haven't for quite awhile. I think some of the game companies themselves have gone in the same direction, if you compare Knights of the Old Republic to SWTOR, for example.

Mithril! The dwarves tell no tales. But just as it was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction. They delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled.

Tigger of Kai wrote:I've gone from mainly futzing around in singleplayer games to either MMOs with my guild (SWTOR, FFXIV) or competitive games with a "community" (L4D2, Mount and Blade). I would still play something like Mass Effect or Batman: Arkham Futzaroo but I haven't for quite awhile. I think some of the game companies themselves have gone in the same direction, if you compare Knights of the Old Republic to SWTOR, for example.

Just curious, what handle do you go by on Mount and Blade? I'm not all that well known inside the community, but I go by Ansgar.

I'm a long-standing member of the 71st Highlanders regiment (Napoleonic Wars mod). Look us up anytime, we have a Line Battle tonight as a matter of fact! Here's a video of us (warning: terribly foul language).

Mithril! The dwarves tell no tales. But just as it was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction. They delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled.

Tigger of Kai wrote:I'm a long-standing member of the 71st Highlanders regiment (Napoleonic Wars mod). Look us up anytime, we have a Line Battle tonight as a matter of fact! Here's a video of us (warning: terribly foul language).

Awesome. By any chance are you looking forward to the upcoming mod L'Aigle? It's quite nice to see that there are other people living in the GTA who are fond of Mount And Blade (I live in a little city to the east of Scarborough called Pickering. I'm sure you've heard of it ).

I still play video games regularly, but not as much as I used to. I no longer live alone and have a 6-year-old to help supervise every other week, as well as a lot more responsibility at work, so the days of going home, eating dinner, and then playing video games for 4-5 hours are long gone. Getting older, too, and much more tired these days, so staying up late is not an option except on the weekends.

That said, I generally have 2-3 hours of time each evening where I can spend some time doing my own thing. A lot of times that is video games, but it's also reading, working on writing projects, etc. Having to cram all of my different interests into a 2-3 hours window is difficult, and leads to games sometimes getting boxed out, but I usually spend at least some time playing games most nights, and at least one day a week (Saturday or Sunday) where I can play extensively.

I have real income for the first time in a long time, and so buying games is not an issue. I spend a lot on indie titles, old school classics from GoG.com, as well as any new Nintendo stuff that comes out, and there are some of the big-name PC titles that still catch my interest. I find myself exploring more independent or less-known developers and publishers these days, as I've become a bit bored with the same old same old from EA and their ilk on the PC.

I've gone the opposite direction of some on here, with regard to single player vs multiplayer. Really the only multiplayer I do these days is occasionally getting on GW2 or when I sit down to play something with the kid. Back in the day, I was all about Quake death match, Unreal tournament, and I went through a 3-year period where I played pretty much nothing but the original Guild Wars. Now, it's almost all single player stuff. I get plenty of social time with my "real life" - I know there's a strong element of user-defined action in MMOs and such, but sometimes what I really want is for a great developer to tell me the story they want to tell.

Growing up with older brothers introduced me to gaming on a cooperative level that I've almost never left. Most of the games that I would buy, rent, or borrow growing up would be with the intent to play with friends or family. That's part of the reason I loved Final Fantasy 6 so much. Action, fighting, racing, pretty much any genre of game that had a co-op element dominated my preferences, with single-player games coming in as filler for the times I wasn't able to play with another. For a long time this meant I played consoles almost exclusively, and it wasn't until around my mid twenties that I moved primarily to playing on PC.

I still enjoy playing all sorts of genres, but I'm gravitating more towards story than arcade action these days. It is refreshing to get on a game and just let loose, whether that be an FPS,TPS, hack & slash, or anything competitive really. Excepting MOBA's and Strategy, simply because I don't get the same rush and don't feel as connected to those types of games. I don't play games quite as competitively anymore, but I still enjoy intense multiplayer. I'll also hop from one MMO to another, with friends on LotRO/SWtOR/GW2, to anything newly hyped.

The one game type that I will always be down for is the co-op survival/horde mode. It may be mindless to some but I find it relaxing. That might stem from the old hack & slash games, but I love it.

Xiahou Jia wrote:Interestingly enough I find grindfest in games very enjoyable now that I can barely afford to play more than an hour non-stop. Feels like a job though Forge yourself a weapon in DW8 Ambition mode then...off to sleep Next day another weapon. I really enjoy playing Skyrim and Oblivion as the game time/real time ratio is roughly 1hour/1 minute meaning you can perfectly 'live' every day of both games....every day of real life without hurting the latter.

I know this is a bit late but I just noticed this post and wanted to respond.

This was pretty much the story of my gaming life about two years ago. When I purchased Way of the Samurai 3, grinding and building different swords were probably the game's highest order of enjoyment. It has like 20+ endings but they aren't nearly as enticing as working hours upon hours to get parts to make the ultimate weapon with the skills you want attached.